The Week Of Wonder !!

" Chaliye Team !! " - I woke up startled, disoriented, and half expecting to crawl out of my sleeping bag. In a moment I realized, I was dreaming, one of those disjointed pre dawn dreams. I trudged out of my bed, poured myself a glass of water and headed out to the balcony. Not a soul stirred, as I looked up at the prussian blue sky recalling the surreal week I just had. 

It all started for us back in December, 2021. Having cancelled a couple of Himalayan treks already due to COVID-19, I was growing increasingly restless. I casually called out to my better half Rwiti - "Let's attempt Buran Ghati. It's going to be tricky, but if we manage to pull it off, I promise it's going to be worth it". I had raved on about this trek for a year and perhaps sensing the desperation in my voice, she gave in - "Let's do it." 

Fast forward to April end, having prepared physically as much as our schedules would allow us, there was nervous excitement we approached June 4th, the day our trek would commence. Backpacks packed and with quiet anticipation, we set off. We flew to Chandigarh, stayed the night in Kalka before heading to Shimla. Dodging aggressive tourists, we found ourselves a nice little café called the Honey Hut, somewhere down the Mall road. We barely spoke during dinner, our minds already on the trek. 

Shimla to Janglik

We reached the Shimla Old Bus stand at 5.30 AM , where we were supposed to meet the India Hikes (IH) team and our fellow trekkers. The group was as diverse as it gets but also one who shared a common goal. We stopped for breakfast and couple of hours later for lunch at a place called Chirgaon. It became quickly apparent that we were leaving the concrete jungle far behind and slowly but surely immersing ourselves in the lap of nature.

The road to our Basecamp at Janglik along the Pabbar river was bumpy at times but allowed some fascinating views! 

We reached Janglik at 3.30 PM. As we sipped our welcome drinks, we met Nishant, our trek lead. We were also introduced to Thakur Ji and Hansraj Ji - our local guides and pillars for this trek. Janglik was at an altitude of over 9200 feet, one of the highest basecamps of IH. We quickly gathered around for our trek briefing where our vitals were checked, we understood each trek day, the risk points, a brief tutorial on backpacks etc. We also understood about water conversation and Green Trails, an India Hikes initiative. Collecting waste during our journey would be our only way to give something back to the mountains that would nestle us for the upcoming week. There was slight chill in the air as we had our dinner and pulled up our blankets , a last bit of comfort :)

Janglik to Dayara

We started off sharp at 8 AM next morning. As we climbed out of Janglik we were greeted with delightful coniferous forests abundant in Pine , Spruce and Fir Trees. Streaks of morning sunshine piercing through the trees made a fascinating view. Nishant took a minute to explain how to differentiate those trees and also how they were never native to India but originally planted by the British !!

As we climbed out of the forest, through the citrusy pungent fragrance of pine cones, the Dayara meadows were setting in and the majestic wall separating Rupin Pass and Buran Ghati was now clearly visible. Soon enough, we noticed one of the trekkers of a different batch making her way down. She was hit with AMS and had low oxygen levels. It was a stark reminder that mountains can be extremely beautiful and very unforgiving at the same time if one doesn't take care of themselves as much as they can. 

We trekked on to arrive at a beautiful clearing where to our surprise, we saw a little Dhaba, the last we would find on this trek. The climb was steady till now and there was nothing more welcoming than a cup of tea. With the trek well and truly on, it was time for our first team activity where we had to write our worries in dry leaves and bury it where we could. It was a beautiful setting for quiet reflection and the whole idea was to leave behind the worldly worries and proceed to the trek with an open mind and a willingness to accept and embrace whatever nature had in store for us. 

Feeling content and full of positivity, we arrived at our WOW moment for the day. So, there we were, on a narrow mountain side path approaching a blind corner. Team Activity II - Hold each other, close our eyes, put our trust on the person in front of us and walk a 100 meters. Once everyone had turned the corner, we had to open our eyes together. We did and let out a collective gasp - our first campsite in perhaps the most breathtaking landscapes I had ever seen !!

This activity taught us an important lesson - In mountains there is no I, we complete the trek as a team or we don't. Leaving anyone behind wasn't on the cards and in order to finish this, we needed to put complete trust on each other in the team.

Gaping in awe and marveling at nature around us, we reached our first campsite at Dayara at 11075 feet.  The Dayara meadows had surpassed expectations and even though we trekked for 5 hours straight, people got busy. Few team members went on short hikes, few sketched, few even managed to kick about a football. Our spirits were as wild as the wildflowers in full bloom.

Dayara remains personally my favorite campsite. 

Dayara to Litham

At 11737 feet, Litham would be our only campsite where we would stay for two nights. Rested and knowing we had a relatively easy day ahead, we set off from Dayara at 8 AM next morning. Short climbs along the mountain sides, we passed through more of rolling meadows and staggering views admiring the surreal and brilliant shades of green and blue. 

 

The sun shone brightly on us, which also meant our water reserves were quickly drying up. As if the trek and nature were curated for each other, we approached a water source. With it's glacial sources, the stream water, combined with it's beautiful setting quenched our thirst and souls.

As we proceeded towards Litham we took a break, where we came across a row of Birch trees. The bark of a Birch tree also known as " Bhojpatra " has a deep rooted history. Our religious texts, Ramayana / Mahabharata / Purans were all written on Bhojpatra and it was believed if you wrote something on it with all your heart it would come true !

We reached Litham, our second campsite by 1 PM and ate lunch after finishing our cool down stretches. We went in to the kitchen tent meeting and greeting the team, as we did at every campsite. The IH kitchen teams were the real stars behind the scenes, working round the clock to ensure the trek groups, arriving in tandem, were well fed. Every meal was a surprise and hardly disappointing. There would be no trek without these shy individuals. It was inspiring to hear about them and their journeys with IH !!

Up next was volley ball sessions ! What started with 5-6 people soon escalated to more than 20 people ! - Porters, Kitchen Team, our fellow trekkers all joining in for a wee bit of fun. Sport, at any point in time can bridge gaps and bring complete strangers together to have a good time, even in mountains! 

The evening allowed us time to sit and reflect around the breathtakingly beautiful Litham Campsite. Some chose to sit and pen down their thoughts, some chose moments of quiet reflection, some chose taking a short hike and quite a few of our fellow trekkers chose to join Nishant for a rock climbing session across the river. 

A mention for Thakur Ji and Hansraj Ji - Standing in the freezing river for more than half an hour, they guided the team across the river. Words would do very little justice to what both of them meant for us during this trek. From holding hands in difficult sections, to always responding with a 'Bilkul' for any and every untimely requests to them, to their countless reassurances of 'Koi nahi, ho jaega ji' whenever the going got tough - they were our pillars and support systems for the whole trek - wholesome individuals who left their impressions on all of us for life. 

Amazing teamwork crossing the freezing river !! 

                                               

                                   Nishant, going above and beyond, as he did so often during the trek

We would have dinner by 7.30 PM sharp and as I settled down in our tent and into my sleeping bag, I contemplated how far away and far removed from civilization I was and with the gentle roar of the river in the background, I drifted to sleep. 

Litham to Chandrnahan

Our fourth day of the trek was all about acclimatizing. " Trek high, sleep low " - As Nishant would tell us. We had a trek distance of almost 7 km and an expected altitude gain of almost 2300 feet. As it was a round trip, it meant we travelled with only our daypacks and any relief due to that soon faded as we got right into it tackling steep climbs at the offset. The agenda of the day was to get to as many lakes in Chandrnahan as we could (there were seven of them) within our turnaround time. Within an hour or so , after few steep climbs, we looked back to our Litham campsite, our tents were nothing but specks of yellow..

Having reached the first lake within a couple of hours, the team was ready to push on but at this point there was a terrain change as well. Gone were the days of carefree hikes along Dayara meadows as we made our way past spectacular , large and precarious boulder sections, a more rugged terrain reminiscent of Kashmir trails. We reached a lake, took a pause and pushed on to the next. We were gaining altitude fast which meant one needed to keep up their water intake and be very vigilant for any signs of AMS. We soon reached the fifth lake - a spectacle - nestled between mountains , this turquoise colored lake was the best of the lot!

Lake Six and seven of Chandrnahan were bit of an uncharted territory as most teams would turn back from the fifth. We were within our turn around time, so most of the team, resilient and ambitious, pushed on to lake six, quite a steep climb, which took them above 14000 feet !   At such heights, weather conditions turn pretty quick so we started descent, making our way down. Taking short breaks, this was our first day in the trek where we were pushed physically and mentally and it was almost 3PM when we reached our campsite, drained and spent. My mind was craving sleep but our bodies needed to acclimatize so while the team scattered about, few of us ended up chatting with Nishant, as the sun set over the valley, on a crowd favorite topic - paranormal experiences on mountains !

The day was not done and Nishant, took brief lessons on how to pitch a tent, light a portable stove and several other must have skillsets we would need if and when we ventured out for DIY treks. 

Cautiously optimistic about my rigours for the day and feeling quite jaded to be honest all I hoped for as I chained up our tent was a good and uninterrupted night's sleep. However, having to consume almost 6 litres of water a day comes at a price. Sure enough, after what felt like thirty minutes I was lying awake in my sleeping bag pondering ways in which I could delay the visit to our bio toilets. It was all futile. I started the process of getting out of the sleeping liners and bags, layering up, putting the headlamp on - literally heading for war. I looked at my watch - 1.45 AM - Bloody hell. I chuckled inside, although I could easily have been shivering. Suffering, This is the good stuff.  I got out of the tent, to cold drafty winds and complete darkness. Getting on, I looked up - staring at the night sky for the next minute, transfixed. There it was , The Milky way and the sky studded with stars, so many of them!! Standing outside with pitch black darkness all around, roar of the river, sound of the mountains and a sky full of stars, I felt small, insignificant and primal. It's one of those moments which will stay with me forever. 

Litham to Dhunda

One of the rituals that we followed without fail was a team prayer before we started off on our journey for the day. Being at the mercy of nature, we soon realized the controls that we would exert in our regular lives would be of little use in the mountains. Being thankful and grateful wasn't an imposed feeling, it was something we all felt naturally. As if the weather gods up there listened to our prayers, and as had happened on most other days, the sun rose brightly behind the mountains as we sipped on our morning 'chai' at Litham.

I had made the mistake of bringing my point and shoot camera to this trek. It wasn't recommended but I carried it nevertheless only to move it around from one campsite to the next. Getting ready to wrap our things up at Litham, one of the fellow trekkers Samkit, spotted a Citrin Wagtail, sitting on a rock by a stream. Realizing this might be one of few moments where I could put my camera to some use, I tiptoed to my tent and managed to take a picture.

Buoyed and ready to hit the road, we set off. The Dhunda campsite was at 13300 feet, right at the base of the pass we had to summit. Though this was categorized as one of the difficult days of the trek, our exertions to the Chandrnahan lakes had done the trick. The team moved with a brisk pace, the tree lines completely finished by now. 

We soon approached a river crossing. The team by this point had become an automated unit. We no longer needed to ask for help, everyone was looking out for each other, not because they had too, but because we no longer looked at this trek as an individual event, it was clear as day that we wanted to get this done as a team and everything else simply followed.

Navigating through an ice bridge and a rockfall zone, we reached Dhunda campsite at 13365 feet earlier than anyone expected we would. With the pass visible and right in front of us, there was a skip in our step. We had acclimatized well and sunglasses on by this point, everyone soaked in the picture postcard surroundings. 

I rested a bit after lunch while most of the team carried on with the mood, engrossing themselves in a game of 'Mafia' in the dinner tent. Evening arrived quickly, and it was time for Summit briefing. The climb to the summit was a trek till 15000 feet to reach the pass followed by rappelling down a 150 meter ice wall from where we start the long descent till 11000 feet to the Munirang Campsite. Summit briefing begged the question - " Why is summit important ? " - sharing our deepest emotions and targets, everyone took their turn explaining what it would mean to them if we were to summit successfully. If anything, it brought the group closer. 

This was quickly followed by a brief introduction with our technical team who would be the ones managing the rappelling down the snow-wall next day. These were larger than life individuals who exuded confidence as they explained the harness and safety procedures to us. Safe to say we were excited rather than apprehensive at the end of the brief. 

Summit Day

Summit day was on paper the most difficult day of the trek. It included a 3 hour ascent starting at early hours of the morning and a 9 hour descent, making it the longest day of the trek. Without favorable conditions, the trek could take as long as 18 hours. It was as much a mental test as a physical one as our minds would have to switch from the exasperation of the summit push, to the euphoria of summit, to the excitement of rappelling and sliding down the snow and followed by the marathon descent past some tricky boulder sections. 

We got a wake up call at 3 AM, "Chaliye Team!" reverberating all around. Still half full from dinner, we could not afford to skip breakfast, even at this hour, as a long day lied ahead of us. The next hour was a rush to the bio toilets and kitchen tents and getting summit ready. There would be no gradual ascent as we were climbing 1700 feet in less than 2 kms. Geared up and morning rituals done, we set out. It was still darkish as we made our way up. Fifty shades of blue all around. 

We couldn't afford to rest too long to prevent cooldown, so we soldiered on, looking after each other. Within a couple of hours, we took a moment to look back, our Dhunda campsite now remotely visible far below as the sun shone brightly above us. 

Adrenalin pushing us on and around 2.7 hours since we started from campsite, we reached our promised land !! Hugs followed as we stood atop the summit, formerly known as The Barua Pass. Our mind a pure cocktail of emotions, some of us took in the 360 degree view, some posed for photographs, some chose a moment of solitude, some chose to call home ( this was the only place in the whole trek where mobile network was available ). 

It was a personal moment of accomplishment for Rwiti and myself. Our preparations and moments of self doubt and inner demons were exorcised as we stood at the summit taking it all in !!

As we prepared to rapel down, we had to take the mandatory group picture ! 

Rappelling down provided moments of laughter, hysterics, fear and joy and so many other emotions. it took the entire team a couple of hours to rapel down and then slide further down through the natural snow slides. 

Our hearts content, we started our descent. As mentioned by one of our fellow trekkers Prayas, " A successful trek is one which is completed ". It was difficult to stay focused but we meandered our way through the boulder patches and down the mountain. 

As the day hit it's stride, we stopped on our way down with a spectacular view ahead of us. Few porters had laid out a portable kitchen of sorts. Unexpected and amazing, we were treated with tea and omelets, simple food but tasting surreal at that moment. It was a moment of reflection for me, remembering the wastefulness in our lifestyles back in our cities, something we try to avoid but probably not hard enough. 

We reached Munirang Campsite @11000 feet at almost 4PM. After having a long cool down, the mood was solemn. There was a sense of accomplishment all around but it was not lost on us that this fantastic journey was about to come to an end. Munirang was a beautiful campsite but such was the beauty of nature that we had lived in over the last few days, I had to remind myself to not take things for granted and soak in every moment of raw, un-meddled nature as we could. 

We were on the second last day of our trek and it was time to unravel and unwind. We gathered in our tents for the trek debriefing and it was our turn to share the learnings that we would take from this trek back to our cities. People shared their journeys, hurdles , mishaps in life and we are all extremely thankful to a higher power for bringing together this great team and the truly amazing India Hikes staff at every level for making this trek a success. 

Munirang to Barua

With our mind partly switching back to lives back in cities and the other on what we would be leaving behind, we began one final assault on our knees. We were trekking down to 6000 feet to the Barua Village from where we were supposed to get back to Shimla. We did a silent trek through a beautiful forest section. Chirping of the birds, glimpses of meadows through the trees with blue skies overhead, it was as if nature was showing off and simply mocking us for leaving. One of the reasons I chose to do Buran Ghati was because of a quote which Arjun Majumdar , the founder of IH said - " There is not a single moment on this trek when you can take your eyes off. " It was at this moment I realized how correct he was.

As we approached midway, we stopped for Lassi at one of the prettiest mountain cottages. 'Chacha' was simply letting us have the Lassi fresh from his farm, because he just had it, it was not something he ever intended to sell. Again, a far cry from what we are used to. 

As we entered our final stretch into Barua, we came across several apple orchards, something a lot of people depend on for their livelihood. Barua itself was extremely pretty, with small alleyways and homes nestled on mountain slopes. 

Slowly and surely we were back in the mould as we saw more people, more garbage, more noise, basically an excess of everything, as we concluded our trek and headed back to Shimla. We stopped for lunch on the way, at a hotel,  beside river Sutlej. As we pulled away to our lives and bade goodbye the universal feeling was that of gratitude :

To Nishant, for making this more than a trek, educating us and teaching us virtues all along -  that would make us responsible trekkers and individuals. 

To Thakur Ji and Hansraj Ji - For being selfless and pillars of our trek. The people who made the whole journey possible. 

To IH Staff  - To entire IH Staff working behind the scenes, thank you!

Last but never the least, 

To the amazing team - Sudheer, Charu, Pratham, Anil, Johan, Praneeta, Aboli, Krivi, Yuvraj, Divyansh, Prayas, Avi, Pushkar, Sharaang, Arushi, Ayush, Samkit  - All of you are rockstars !!

You can find all details of the trek in below India Hikes Link - 

https://indiahikes.com/buran-ghati